Two varieties of banana green fruit growing in Guerrero, Mexico, were used for starch isolation. Chemical analysis and physicochemical and functional properties were studied in these starches. The "macho" variety presented higher starch yield than "criollo". In general, chemical compositions in both starches were similar, except in ash content, where the "criollo" variety showed a lower value than "macho". The results of freeze-thaw stability suggested that banana starches cannot be used in frozen products. Both starches presented similar water retention capacity values that increased when temperature increased. Solubility profiles showed that at low temperature "criollo" had lower solubility than "macho", but at higher temperature an inverse behavior was evident; also the solubility increased when temperature increased. Behavior similar to that for solubility was obtained in the swelling test. The banana starch studies indicate the "macho" and "criollo" varieties have different starch structures as evidenced by viscosity.

Sensitive chiral analysis by CE: An updateA general view of the different strategies used in the last years to enhance the detection sensitivity in chiral analysis by CE is provided in this article. With this purpose and in order to update the previous review by García-Ruiz et al., the articles appeared on this subject from January 2005 to March 2007 are considered. Three were the main strategies employed to increase the detection sensitivity in chiral analysis by CE: (i) the use of off-line sample treatment techniques, (ii) the employment of in-capillary preconcentration techniques based on electrophoretic principles, and (iii) the use of alternative detection systems to the widely employed on-column UV-Vis absorption detection. Combinations of two or three of the above-mentioned strategies gave rise to adequate concentration detection limits up to 10 210 M enabling enantiomer analysis in a variety of real samples including complex biological matrices.

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The production of resistant starch from non-conventional sources using an extruder was studied. Starch was isolated from unripe banana and mango fruits, commercial corn starch was used for comparison purposes. Moisture, ash and fat content were higher in non-conventional starch sources than in corn starch, but corn starch presented a lower protein and dietary fibre content than banana and mango starches. Amylose content was higher in banana and mango starches than in corn starch. Besides, mango had the smallest granule size (5–10 m). Extruded mango had the lowest solubility which may be related with the granule size, and in the case of the swelling, extruded products from corn starch had the highest values, a pattern that may be due to the amylose/amylopectin ratio, because corn starch had the lowest amylose content of the starches studied. Extruded products from mango presented a resistant starch (RS) content that decreased when the screw speed increased, for banana starch, the RS values from the extruded products was similar at 30 rpm and 65 rpm, and at 40 rpm it was the highest. In the case of retrograded resistant starch (RRS), the values of the extruded products prepared with non-conventional starches had a defined pattern, because they decreased when screw speed increased.

A new analytical methodology based on capillary electrophoresis-mass spectrometry (CE-MS(2)) is presented in this work, enabling the identification and determination of six non-protein amino acids (ornithine, β-alanine, GABA, alloisoleucine, citrulline and pyroglutamic acid) in vegetable oils. This methodology is based on a previous derivatization with butanol and subsequent separation using acidic conditions followed by on-line coupling to an ion trap analyzer for MS(2) detection established through an electrospray-coaxial sheath flow interface. The electrophoretic and interface parameters were optimized obtaining the separation of all compounds in less than 15 min and with resolutions higher than 5. The proposed method was validated by assessing its accuracy, precision (RSD<7% for corrected peak areas), LODs and LOQs (between 0.04-0.19 ng/g and 0.06-0.31 ng/g, respectively) and linearity range (R(2)>0.99), and it was used in order to identify the selected non-protein amino acids in soybean oils, sunflower oils, corn oils and extra virgin olive oils. MS(2) experiments performed the fingerprint fragmentation of these compounds allowing to corroborate ornithine and alloisoleucine in seed oils but not in olive oils. The method was applied to identify and quantify olive oil adulterations with soybean oil detecting in a single run the amino acids in mixtures up to 2% (w/w). The results showed a high potential in using these compounds as novel markers for the detection of adulterations of extra virgin olive oils with seed oils. Thus, the developed method could be considered a simple, rapid and reliable method for the quality evaluation of extra virgin olive oil permitting its authentication.

Two capillary electrophoresis-tandem mass spectrometry (CE-MS(2)) methods were optimized in this work using cyclodextrins (CDs) as chiral selectors in order to determine the degree of racemization of the free amino acids contained in different hydrolyzed protein fertilizers used as plant biostimulants. The methodologies developed were characterized by the specificity of MS(2) experiments enabling the identification of all protein amino acids, except for cysteine. The enantiomeric separation of up to 14 amino acids was achieved with resolutions above 1.0 and limits of detection between 0.02 and 0.8 μM. The methods were applied to the analysis of complex samples such as hydrolyzed protein fertilizers to evaluate the presence of d-amino acids after different kinds of hydrolysis treatments. The results corroborated the absence or almost negligible presence of enantiomeric conversions of the L-amino acids into D-amino acids in the case of fertilizers obtained by enzymatic hydrolysis, as well as the high racemization rate for those obtained through a chemical hydrolysis.

Resistant starches were prepared from mango starch by extrusion. An experimental design with independent variables temperature, screw speed and moisture content produced 20 samples that were studied to determine the effect of these variables on resistant starch (RS) content, water absorption index (WAI) and water solubility index (WSI). RS content was affected by moisture content and temperature. Screw speed and temperature also influenced RS content, the highest level (97 g kg −1 ) being obtained at low screw speed and high temperature, this pattern can be associated with a longer residence time, which gives rise to more opportunity for amylose chain association. The regression model fitted to the RS experimental results showed a good correlation coefficient (0.80). When moisture content and temperature decreased, WAI increased (105-142 g kg −1 ), but low WAI values (70-77 g kg −1 ) were obtained at moisture contents between 200 and 300 g kg −1 and high temperatures (140-150 • C). When moisture content and temperature increased, WSI increased (222-332 g kg −1 ), but at high temperature value (120 • C) assayed and the lowest moisture content (150 g kg −1 ), WSI also increased. In the range of moisture contents tested and at low temperatures, only partial gelatinisation occurred and low solubility was obtained.

A nonaqueous capillary electrophoresis method with electrospray-mass spectrometric detection was developed to study the glycerophospholipid fraction in olive fruit and olive oil samples. In olive fruits, where the information available about the phospholipid fraction was very scarce, results obtained in this work allowed us to complete and improve this knowledge. The glycerophospholipid fraction of the olive fruit samples analyzed was composed of phosphatidylcholine (PC), phosphatidylethanolamine (PE), lysophosphatidylethanolamine (lyso-PE), phosphatidylinositol (PI), phosphatidic acid (PA), lysophosphatidic acid (lyso-PA), and phosphatidylglycerol (PG). Differences in the relative abundance of the glycerophospholipid classes determined were observed as a function of the botanical and geographical origin of the olive fruits analyzed. Interestingly, the olive stone and pulp analyzed also showed different glycerophospholipid compositions. For olive oil, five glycerophospholipids (lyso-PA, PC, PE, lyso-PE, and PG) were detected. Finally, identification of the main molecular species in the different glycerophospholipid classes for the olive fruit samples analyzed was accomplished by tandem mass spectrometric experiments and information from the literature.